Nov 19 (LTIT) –Spot copper was mostly offered at a premium of 30-110 yuan/mt over the SHFE December contract in Shanghai on Monday November 19. This compared with a discount of 10 yuan/mt to a premium of 60 yuan/mt on Friday November 16.

Higher prices of futures deterred downstream purchases, but limited supplies of high-grade copper kept its premiums at highs of 90-110 yuan/mt in the morning. The price spread between high-quality and standard quality copper stood above 50 yuan/mt this morning.

Few purchases weighed on offers for hydro-copper, to a discount of 220 yuan/mt before noon, from a discount of 180 yuan/mt in the early morning.

The SHFE 1812 contract rose to a high of 49,830 yuan/mt and settled at 49,630 yuan/mt at the end of the morning trading session, up 100 yuan/mt from that time last Friday.

At noon on November 19, high-grade copper traded at 49,740-49,860 yuan/mt and standard-quality copper traded at 49,690-49,820 yuan/mt.